Her Facade
by Simple Ish
Summary: She hated both pirates and marines. They feared her. Her unyielding hate brought her unwanted loneliness, until she ran into Eustass Kidd, who found utmost joy in harassing and teasing her. Unintentionally, he begins to peel off her facade... OC x Kidd
1. Prologue: Introducing Ced and Eru

**Enjoy the first chapter. Oh, and I love criticism! :)**

**Funny how this idea came to me in a dream. Well, hope ya like it! **

**Thanks in advance x)**

**Disclaimer**- One piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda. But, the rest belongs to me:))

Prologue-

Somewhere in the South Blue lay an oval shaped island which had an unusual rift stretched across the middle of the island. If one looked at the rift from atop, a sliver of blue could be seen from the depths of it. The rift served as a border between two rivaling areas. The left half of the island belonged to an area named "Rain Village," and the other half belonged to one named "Shine District." These two areas were complete opposites in almost everything, and because of this, tension and hate formed quickly. Only near the borders, would people act on their differences. This area was known as the Outlawed Area. People who lived there, were constantly in danger of being raided from each other during the night. The only obstacle that stood between the outlawed area and the town was a huge wall that stretched across island, parallel to the rift. Both areas had a wall, because it had served as a remedy to their differences, an area for dangerous beasts to roam, and a jail for criminals. Most people were fortunate enough to live behind the walls, in the safe and secluded area as long as they obeyed the laws. The others had been thrown out of their respective town for disrupting the peace, and causing havoc within the walls. But, there were an unlucky few who had been born from criminals residing in the Outlawed Area. Their miserable fates had been decided from the moment they were born, for they were condemned to that area, criminal or not. In most of these cases, the child would be abandoned, and left to starve. Rarely, would parents bring up the child, considering resources were scarce or very difficult to obtain in the area. Life was peaceful within the walls because citizens feared of being thrown into the Outlawed Area.

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><p><em>Ten years ago...<em>

The sun shone brightly in the mid afternoon sky. "Ced? "Where are you?" called a boy wearing torn navy pants, a plain white shirt and a pair of sneakers. His shoes were covered in clumps of mud from running around. Sketched onto his worn white t shirt was a neatly inked marine logo. He wore a white cap, dirtied from overuse, covering his short, matted blonde hair. His attire seemed to mimic a common marine uniform, yet it matched perfectly with his clear sea-blue eyes.

"I'm here, Eru!" a younger boy cried jumping up and down joyfully, covered in mud from head to toe. "Hah! I found a boar!" he laughed wildly admiring the slain boar that lay beside the pool of mud.

Eru sighed. "Ced...You're freaking crazy." he almost face palmed himself as the tanned brown haired boy from head to toe as he began wiping the mud off himself with little effect. The boy wore tattered khaki shorts, that camouflaged with the color of the mud, and a maroon colored sleeveless shirt. A black bandanna hung around his neck and unlike Eru, he had no shoes. And then, there were his golden mismatched eyes, that oddly matched his outfit.

"Haha. Well we have dinner now, don't we?" he said smugly, as he headed for the river bed to clean himself off. Eru followed, carrying the boar and listening to his story of how Ced had "bravely" slain the boar.

As they neared the river, they heard a cry getting louder and louder. "Ced. You hear that?"

"Yeah. I see THAT." Ced pointed downwards towards a little crying baby girl. "It's a baby."

"It seems like she's been abandoned." he replied sadly looking at the baby on the other side of the ridge.

"Eru..."he began.

"NO."

"We HAVE to take care of her! PLEASE!"

"No. You know it's a crime to cross the ridge."

"I'll be fast! I just have to jump it and carry her back here. She's been abandoned, Eru. I HAVE to." he begged.

"Ced..."

"C'mon! She's just like us! She's been abandoned."

"Fine. I'm getting her, though." Eru ordered as he jumped to the other side onto the Sunny District area. Little did he know, bordering thugs had seen him cross, and as he neared the baby, they were preparing to kill him for crossing their borders. He took one close look at the baby girl, and she stopped crying, and smiled. 'Wow. Gotta admit...she's cute.' He quickly scooped her up, but as he was about to head to the rift, Ced yelled.

"They saw us!" Ced shouted and pointed at the few thugs that were approaching Eru.

By the time Eru had realized what kind of predicament he was in, the Outlaws had already surrounded him.

"Well, well, well. Look at what we have here." one chuckled evily.

"Seems like a lil rat crossed da' line!" he laughed. The others began laughing at his horribly intended joke. Eru figured that he was the leader. While they were distracted, Eru tried running for the rift, but the baby slowed him down dramatically. The leader had caught him by his shirt, just as he was about to jump across. "ARGH! Let me go!" Eru spat out.

"Shaddup brat. Didn' ya hear me?" he questioned. "Ya crossed the line, kid. An' yer gonna pay fer it." Everyone had completely forgotten about Ced at this moment, and as the leader was about to drop the kid into the rift, Ced jumped and head butted him to the ground. "EEEEKK!" he yelped in a high pitched voice. His followers were standing motionlessly as they watched the scene, unsure of what to do.

"Get up, Eru!" Ced exclaimed as he grabbed the baby girl who was now crying from being dropped so suddenly, and jumped across the rift. Eru followed quickly, before the leader could get up. He noticed the men had done nothing to stop them. "Looks like you guys are nothing with him down!" he shouted while pointing to the leader.

"Haha! Not much of a leader is he. What kind of a thug screams like that? Even the baby is manlier!" Ced mocked as he and Eru ran off into the forest carrying the baby girl.

"Ced. We were just lucky they underestimated us." he said and paused to think for awhile. " And did you just call this baby girl manly?" Eru said protectively.

"Ehehe... you get what I mean, right? And when did you get all..." Ced stopped and made an exaggerated confused face. "Weird."

"I'm not weird! Anyways, you wanted her!" he glared and shoved the girl onto Ced.

"Woah Woah! That's mean! She's heavy!"

"Heavy? Are you serious, Ced? That dang boar was heavier th-" Eru stopped. "Oh crap." Both had realized they had forgotten to get their boar.

"Just forget it." Ced sighed. "Someone probably took it by now." he frowned.

"Ah man! No dinner tonight." he cried. " Oh well." Eru said optimistically. "We have a new addition to our group. Now we are sort of like a family, eh?"

"Yup. Now there's three of us." he laughed as they neared a small cave. "Home, sweet home."


	2. Prologue: The Dreaded Reunion

**For those of you wondering… Eustass Kid will not be introduced UNTIL later. (Sorry about that) **

**ChIbINeKoChWaN- **Thanks. :)) I tried to make it similar to their past, yet different at the same time.

**Orrahn-** I liked your criticism very much xD. I'll try to improve my characterization. Lol, and it's hard to slow down!

**YEAH. I love criticism, and I don't care if you're mean about it. Although, I'm mainly writing this story for my readers and my entertainment, but this is also meant for me to improve my writing lol.**

**Thanks in advance, guys x)**

**Disclaimer**- One piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda. But, the rest belongs to me:))

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><p>It had been a little over a week since Ced and Eru started taking care of the baby, and they were having a hell of a tough time. The first few days hadn't been so bad. The baby was quiet and playful, and was almost always smiling. And when she wasn't, well, Eru learned quickly that the only way to shut her up was to give her the blanket which somehow comforted her. But, as days passed on, they both noticed that they were slowly getting exhausted, both mentally and physically. Every day, they seemed to be stuck in a routine that revolved around the baby. In the morning at exactly 3 AM, they would wake up to hear her incessant cries. Either Ced or Eru would be forced to get up and rock her slowly to sleep. It seemed like the baby was checking to see if the two were still by her side. It was clever, but they did not like that it happened at the WORST possible time of the day. After that, they would wake up around 8 AM, to search for breakfast. Eru would strap the baby across his back by her blanket, in order for both his hands to be free. Yet, both didn't have the slightest notion of how to take care of a baby. On the first day, they found out they would have to give her liquid foods only. They learned the hard way when they tried to give her a piece of fish, because about an hour later, she threw up all over Eru. From that day on, they fed her small amounts of liquefied berries and LOTS of water (even the berries had been hard for her to digest). Around noon, they would have been finished eating. After that, the baby would sleep till dinner. The boys had to be extra careful not to disturb her too much while adventuring, otherwise she would wake up and throw a fit. By the time they ate dinner and fed the baby, it would be around 7PM. They then took one hour shifts, to find or make future supplies for the girl. One would be watching the girl, while making supplies, and the other would be hunting for possible supplies. But even though the boys were quite resourceful, they couldn't help but stress over the immense amount of time spent caring for the baby.<p>

"Ced." Eru said dryly.

"Eh?"

"We need help."

"Uh..." Ced started. "Where are you going with this?"

"I'm saying maybe we should go ask h-"

"NO! We are not going to ask him for help! Not now..."

"Ced. We don't know how to take care of her. I mean, look at her! She's a mess." he pointed to the smelly baby girl covered with specks of dirt.

"NO! I absolutely will NOT go. We made a promise not to." he glared intensely. "I don't want to see HIM until we can prove to him..." he broke down into a barely audible whisper. "we aren't kids anymore."

A long silence took over, as Eru silently fumed at Ced. "Bull shit." Eru glowered. "Right now, that's not important! Can't you see we are wasting our time raising her up?"

"You're just being selfish!" Ced yelled out ignorantly.

"I...No."Eru stared at Ced, long and hard. He didn't want to go to HIM, either, but they couldn't avoid it any longer. They had long outgrown that innocent and naive stage in life and faced the hard cold truth of their reality. They both knew the feats they had accomplished over the past two years, and they certainly did not feel like the helpless, sheltered kids they were before. This was a now or never situation, because this had been the only time HE had been brought up since they had ran away. Both of them had to do this."I…I am doing this for her, and for us. Face it, Ced. We can't raise a baby alone. We don't even know how to. And, we have to face him sooner or later... why not now? We are more than ready." he paused hoping for Ced to respond. "Please, Ced. Please think about our situation."

After a few seconds, Ced finally gave in. "Fine. But JUST because of her." Ced trudged away to pack for the journey.

The boys headed towards the heart of the Outlawed Area carrying the sleeping baby. The journey was extremely unpleasant for Eru, since Ced was fuming in silence the whole time. Not to mention, the terrain was a muddy mess from the nonstop rain occurring in the area. Sometimes, Eru wished he could go to Shine District, where he heard it was rocky, and humid. The land was mostly barren except for a couple of cactuses, but in certain places, there were these beautiful oases surrounded by wild plants of all shapes and sizes. Over here, there were just trees. Too many, in fact. Although that left plenty of resources, he wished the idiotic rivalry between the areas would cease.

After a few hours of silence, they had finally reached the heart of the Outlawed Area, where most people stayed together. About two years passed since they had last been here, and the population had increased dramatically. Men huddled together to polish and sharpen their weapons, while women were either watching children or cooking food. The area was a small, and covered in numerous huts, which were homes for its inhabitants. The boys headed nervously towards a big hut covered in a variety of leaves.

"Hello?" Eru called, trying to hide the fear in his voice. Meanwhile, he slowly put the blanket covered baby down on a soft chair. The hut wasn't much different from the last time the two were here. There were two small rooms, split by the hallway in the center. They seemed to be two bedrooms. One was occupied, and one was bare, except for two tatami mats. The room they were standing contained pots hanging on the left wall, and a fire pit to complete it. A few chairs, and a huge bookshelf lay in the right hand side. What had changed, were two small notes hanging on the right and left side of the hallway. Eru couldn't figure out what was written on them, and eventually gave up.

An old, tall, hunched back man appeared before them from the hall. Even though he was old, he still appeared to be muscular and tanned. He wore a cream colored robe and straw sewn sandals. He gripped tightly onto a walking stick to give him support for his bad leg.

Eru gulped. "Uhm.. Hi, sir."

All three stood in an uncomfortable silence until the man spoke. "You two..." he quietly stated. "IDIOTS!" he roared. "HOW DARE YOU RUN OFF! AND NOW YOU HAVE THE NERVE TO COME BACK?"

Ced winced._ 'Dang it. I KNEW this was a bad idea.'_

After another awkward silence later, the old man started again. "Why...did you run away?" he questioned trying to act calm.

The silence was killing Eru, and it didn't help that Ced was refusing to speak."Because..." Eru stared intensely at the floor, hoping that he wouldn't have to make eye contact. "We... wanted freedom."

"FREEDOM?" he roared losing his temper, again. "I took you in, even though your parents had abandoned you. I gave you shelter, and I let you have fun! What more could you ask for?"

"You only let us play as long as we were within your sight! And you're practically blind and handicapped!" Eru retorted, furiously glaring at the old man right in the eye. "We wanted to explore! After all those stories you told us about." he motioned towards the bookshelf. "We wanted to have our OWN adventure."

The old man sighed. "You two still have that stupid dream of going out to sea?" he mocked.

Eru only stared deep into the man's eyes. Ced still hung his head down, in fear.

"Both of you will never be able to get off this land." the old man continued. You and I both know that us Outlaws, can never escape from here. Ever." he said intensely."

"It's better than rotting in this hell house!" Eru shouted. "As you have been aging, we have been getting stronger and stronger! We are both going to out to the ocean someday! You just wait, OLD man!

"Give. It. Up."

Finally, Ced cracked. He could deal with the old man's temper. He could deal with him mocking their dream. But, he could not stand this any longer. He would never give up his dream, and he wasn't going to let a senile man stop him. No matter what."I promise you." Ced chimed in angrily. "We will escape. We will be free. And, we WILL do EVERYTHING and ANYTHING to sail the oceans. We will have our own adventures, and they will be so fucking awesome, people WILL HAVE TO write a book about it." Ced raised his voice after each sentence.

"Hell yeah!" Eru agreed wholeheartedly. Ced had finally come to his senses.

"Is that a challenge?" the old man questioned.

"HELL YEAH." they both yelled angrily.

"BWAHAHAHAHA." he barked out suddenly.

Ced and Eru were confused. Like, really confused. They were waiting for the moment the old man would crack and kick them out; to tell them to never come back again. But, he was laughing? "The old man is really senile." Ced muttered under his breath.

When the old man had finally calmed down, he stared warmly at the two. "You two are still the same." he smiled. "Now…" he said seriously. " What the hell are you two doing here. I'm sure you two didn't come here just to preach about your dreams."

All anger faded, as Ced slowly picked up the blanket covered baby sleeping soundly.

"Uh..." Eru started embarrassingly. "Well that was part of it… but we need help."

We don't know how to take care of this kid." Ced whispered revealing a sleeping baby hidden underneath the cloth.

"Ehhh?" the old man exclaimed. "A baby? Gosh, dang it. You two idiots are really trying to kill me." he closed in on Ced and realized the sleeping baby was a girl. "Wow. She's cute." he muttered as his face contorted into a mixed expression of greed and affection.

"That looked so pedo..." they both stared.

"Shut up." he retorted. A few moments later, he ordered. "I'll take care of her."

"What? No! We found her first!"

"No. She's not built to be out in the wild." he said strictly. "You two can take her when she's six. That's when you left, Ced. Fair enough?"

Eru pondered on the old man's suggestion for awhile. 'The kid would only be a burden to us.' "Alright. Fine. But we are checking up on her once a week!"

"Yeah!" Ced retorted. "You might do something funnny!"

"Have some faith in your old man!" he exclaimed as he snatched the baby away from Ced, and set her in the empty room. A few minutes later, he came back out with a plate of food, and smiled. "Now, shouldn't we celebrate on your return?"

"Oh yeah! Speaking of which, it is almost Eru's ninth birthday!" Ced exclaimed.

"And almost your birthday." Eru added. "You'll be turning eight, Ced!"

"Well then!" The old man exclaimed. "Let's grab the fruit juice and party!" he roared happily, and pointed to a room the baby was in. "Check your room out."

Ced and Eru rushed to their old room, careful not to disturb the baby. Everything seemed to be the same, except they saw a newly built contraption that seemed to be built to preserve food and drinks. "Wow." they muttered together.

"Eru." Ced said as he pulled out the nearest barrel of fruit juice. "You were right. That felt so good."

"Of course." he replied triumphantly.

They both grabbed the small barrel of fruit juice and ran out in excitement for their first home cooked meal in a long time.

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><p>Long after the old man had gotten drunk, and passed out, the boys had finally decided to leave before the old man could stop them. That is, until Eru noticed the two pieces of paper hanging from before, and stood astonished.<p>

"Hey Ced! Look." Eru motioned him towards the papers. "He… kept them." he stared silently, unable to say a thing.

"What?" Ced walked up, and read both notes carefully.

_Old Man, _

_I don't care if you say it is impossible! I have decided to become a pirate, no matter what you say, you stupid old man! And don't even try to stop me!_

_-Ced_

_Hey Old Man,_

_Sorry about this. Ced and I will be going off to become strong, so we can set out, and make our dreams reality. We're going to escape this island someday, and I'm going to become a marine no matter what it takes. _

_Thanks for taking care of us, _

_-Eru_

"I was so…" Ced started.

"Rude?" Eru interrupted.

"HELL NO! I was freaking bad ass!" Ced stated proudly. Moments later he stopped gloating and looked confusedly at Eru. "But…He still kept this after all that?"

"Guess so." Eru said as both of them looked sincerely at the old man for the first time in a long time.


	3. Prologue: Her Unforgettable Birthday

**Important: I added an extra scene I forgot to the second chapter. It's all at the end of the chapter. **

Thanks to the following people:

xXFireFistAceXx- Haha, there is someone who had the same issues that I have . Thanks for the criticism :P

Neeky-chan- Thanks very much. I'm glad you find it interesting lol, even though this is the prologue.

ChIbINeKoChWan- Yup. I'll update as fast as I could. Lol. I get distracted a lot though ^.^

**Disclaimer**- I don't own One piece.

**Important: I added an extra scene I forgot to the second chapter. It's all at the end of the chapter. **

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><p>Within the heart of the Outlawed Area, lay a cozy hut with a young girl staring patiently out the window. Her eyes purposefully scanned the area around her, left to right. She saw people everywhere she looked, but none of them were the two she was looking for. And they had to be here, because today was a special occasion for this little girl. The girl was dressed in her most favorite, handmade black spaghetti strap dress. On it, she had stitched a light blue seagull overlapping a pair of white cross bones. Resting on her black haired head, lay a tiara made up of an assortment of blue flowers, twigs, and leaves, which perfectly matched her emerald green eyes. She looked like a doll as her porcelain white skin glittered from being exposed to the early morning sun.<p>

"Old man!" the girl called from her room. Today, would mark her highly anticipated eighth birthday, and her brothers had to be here. "Where's Ced and Eru! They haven't arrived, yet!" she sulked. "I miss them! They haven't visited in a month!" she pouted slumping down so that her head rested on the window sill.

The old man rushed to the girl's room, half naked, for he was in the middle of changing into a new shirt. He hated seeing her sad or mad more than anything else. "Oi! Babyyy, don't cr-" he stopped and stared at the girl's attire. "S-so cute!" he blurted out as blood rushed to his head and squirted out of his nose like a waterfall.

"Hey, hey! Old man!" a boy waved happily at the two. The tanned boy was around 16 years old and about one and a half feet taller than the four foot girl. He had long and messy hair that was covered by his white hat. Instead of the sandals he used to wear, he now wore chocolate brown leather boots that went up to his knees. His white pants were neatly tucked in the leather boots, and a long black coat that stretched down to his feet hung over his white collared shirt.

"ERU!" the girl exclaimed joyfully, as she saw the boy appear from outside her window. Her head perked up instantly, and her depressed mood had instantly vanished.

"Squirt! You have the worst timing!" the old man scowled as he stomped his leg down on the rickety floor, and pointed angrily at the boy. _'Of ALL times! Why now?' _

"Old man! Look at you." another boy laughed and pointed at the shirtless old man, wearing his pajama pants. Not to mention the blood that still flowed down his nose. "Everything about you screams pervert." he clutched his belly trying to hold his laughter. The boy was about 15 years old, and significantly tanner than Eru. A black bandanna hung around his neck loosely. He wore a maroon colored tank top and brown camouflaged shorts. Tied around his waist, was a yellow sash, which matched nicely with his golden yellow eyes. He was shorter than Eru by about five inches, but his brown, spiked up hair shortened the height difference by about two inches.

"Shut it, brat." he fumed as he stomped back to his room to change into something more appropriate. _'Every time they visit, these boys always manage to drive me insane!' _

"Ced! You guys are finally here! " The girl jumped through her window to hug the two boys. They always smelled of a strong scent of pine trees combined with the sweet scent of the freshwater river and little bit of that heavenly scent of cut grass after it rains. She loved the smell, since every day, she would breath the rustic smell of her house.

"Would never miss it, baby!" Ced smiled as he nudged her head, while Eru grabbed her princess style and headed towards the hut.

"Why are you all still calling me that? I'm not a baby anymore." she whined, as she tried tackling Eru to the ground.

"Ah! You got me." he responded playfully, after her few failed attempts of head butting, and pushing him down.

"Don't let our little baby beat ya up!" laughed Ced as he rushed to the food, and began to dig in.

"I won!" she yelled triumphantly. "Now, tell me! Why do you guys still call me baby?"

"It's a cool name. It suits you!" Eru replied grabbing the girl from her waists in order to lift her off. "Boy, you grew!"

"And cause it's cute" Ced replied in between mouthfuls of meat.

"Nah Uh!" the girl replied. "I like your named better!" she proclaimed, pointing at Eru. "And… it is not cute!"

"Well. We like your name better!" they both said simultaneously.

The old man suddenly appeared out of nowhere. "HEY! Don't touch the food." he yelled and walked out in a striped green and white shirt and pair of white slacks. He held a tiny, plain white cake in his hands. "Brat, we gotta sing to the birthday girl." he grabbed Ced by the neck before he could eat anything else. "Hey squirt, get the candles." he ordered Eru.

"Oi! Remember, after today the baby is ours." Eru stated. "We had to wait two more years because you broke your promise."

"Yeah, you can't go back on your promise like you did last time!" Ced chimed in. "Stubborn old man!"

"Ehh. What promise?" the girl asked absentmindedly while staring at her beautiful, plain white cake. It was just how she liked it. Plain and simple. _'There better be some fruit in it…'_

"When you turned six, the old man was supposed to hand you over to us." Eru plainly stated and rushed to get the candles.

"But…this stubborn old man, said you're a fragile little girl. And, he wouldn't stop complaining!" Ced added. "So, he made us wait two MORE years before telling you."

"OLD MAN!" she thundered. "That's not fair! You know how much I wanted to go with them!" '_Unforgivable!'_ She was always bored in this house, and she had always wanted to go with Ced and Eru on adventures. If she had known she could have left this house two years ago, she would've ran away a long time ago.

When Eru had returned with the candles, he noticed the scene had changed dramatically. Ced now stood atop a chair, arrogantly smirking at the old man. The birthday girl was standing up, glaring at him with her arms folded across her chest. And, the old man looked like he was going to collapse at any second. _'Wow. Baby is mad at him.'_ he thought as he marveled at the man's reaction.

"Sorry, baby!" he said apologetically trying to console the girl.

_'Dang he never EVER took fault around us!' _Ced and Eru both thought.

"How about this." he started. "You get one wish from us!" he glared at Ced and Eru, demanding silently for their agreement. "Right, you two?"

"Meh." Ced replied.

"Eh, ok."

"Don't give me those half-hearted responses!" he roared punching the two simultaneously on the head.

"Ouch…!" he barked. Eru rubbed the huge bump that had formed on his head. "Ok, baby, we'll give you one wish."

"Yeah!" Ced agreed, so the old man wouldn't punch him again. _'Gosh. For an old guy, his punches really hurt.'_

The girl seemed to calm down. "Really?"

"Really." the old man said, happy that the girl wasn't mad at him.

"YAY!" she jumped for joy giggling maniacally to herself. She knew exactly what she wanted. This day couldn't get any better.

"Alright, baby. What do ya want?" Eru questioned, hoping she didn't wish for a dinosaur, or something. Of course, when it came to her, he just never knew what she was thinking.

She jumped up and down barely able to contain her excitement. "I want a n-"

BOOOM!

Something sounded of in the distance near the port, between the Outlawed Areas of Shine District and Rain Village. And it wasn't a nice sound. Screams, gunshots, and the clanging of swords could be heard from the hut.

"W-what is that?" the girl asked confusedly and angrily. Angry by the fact that her birthday wish had been interrupted, and confused by the commotion.

"Sounds like a fight. A big fight." Ced said as he grabbed binoculars, and climbed up to the nearest tree. The explosion had started a small fire in their area, and it was spreading rapidly, feeding off the numerous plants and trees within the area. People from both areas were running chaotically in random directions. Some tried fending off the invaders, but there were just too many. It was very unusual that the attackers were only targeting the Outlawed portion of the island. He then noticed that the fleet of marine ships that usually guarded the port, were missing. As if they had never been there in the first place. In its place stood an enormous pitch black ship with a figurehead that looked like the devil incarnate itself. With closer inspection, he saw the unscathed black flag fluttering on the crow's nest. Engraved on the flag were two crisscrossed horns that were overlapped by a standard skull. "Pirates."

"What?" Eru took the binoculars from Ced. "What kind of pirates would attack this wasteland?" he was baffled. Never had any threat invaded their land. Mainly because, there was nothing. Nothing worthwhile for the pirates to rob. It was just a waste of energy to bother with this area, when next to it, lay two much richer areas. "This just doesn't add up." he stared off into the fiery distance.


	4. Prologue: Pirates and Marines

**Thankss to the following:**

ChIbINeKoChWaN- Lol yeah. She's 8 and her name is baby xD. The boys couldn't come up with anything else.

PaperbackxWriter- Thanks a lot! :) Glad ya liked it.

Neeky-Chan - Her name is baby lol. I know its kinda weird haha. But I like it for some weird reason. :)

Sorry for the incredibly long update. Anyways, enjoy the story! :)

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><p>"Ced!" Eru yelled, but it was already too late. Ced had already ran off into the fiery distance. "Argh! That idiot."<p>

"Eru... What do we do?" Baby asked, frightened.

Eru sighed, this was going to be a hell of a day. "Stay put. Ced will be fine. He's strong." he ordered, as he sprinted off in the opposite direction.

"Come on, baby. Lets go inside." ushered the old man, unaware of the girl's reluctance.

Baby quietly stared at the two boys as they slowly disappeared into the distance. An uneasy feeling was welling up inside her, until she couldn't take it anymore. Without another moment's hesitation, she ran.

"No! Come back!" the old man cried out running after her, but his old bones couldn't hope to keep up. He stood worryingly as another one of his children had disappeared in the forest.

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><p>Ced had finally reached the edge of the forest by the port, where the pirate ship rocked back and forth. He had watched as the group of about one hundred pirates cruelly murdered his people. He had watched the forest that was being burnt down with each passing second. Dying screams and shouts were increasing with each passing second. <em>'They are going to annihilate everything.' <em>he frowned at the thought. Negotiating was definitely out of the question. There was only one thing he could do: fight against them. And without a second thought, he climbed into the unguarded pirate ship to act on his plan.

Ced was pleased. Fourteen pyramid stacked barrels of oil and gunpowder were wrapped with a piece of rope. A long piece of string covered with oil hung on the top of the pyramid to serve as the fuse. All he had to do was light the match to get rid of the pirates. He smirked at his ingenuity. Now, he had to find a way to set the barrels in a discreet area, and lead the pirates over there. And he had a good feeling how to do it. Ced wasn't as bright as Eru, but even he could tell the pirates had only one goal in mind: to kill everyone here. _'Time to go fishing.' _he smirked quietly to himself.

Even with his small build, he managed to carry the barrels nearby to a mass of bushes without alerting any pirates. The bushes were so dense, that they couldn't be spotted even if you tried looking for it. And if all else failed, he would at least be able to sink the pirate ship. The fuse was a long piece of oil soaked rope that encircled the barrel. Ced gulped, as he neared the most important part of his plan.

"Oi!" he yelled flailing his hands in the air. Confident that he had their attention, he sprinted off into the wilderness, heading towards the safest area he could think of: the bordering wall.

"Git 'im!" yelled a random pirate who was decapitating a young girl. A small group of pirates began to chase after the boy.

"Looosers!" Ced gloated as he ran away from the increasing mob, ducking under branches and hopping over bushes along the way. He quietly laughed at the disappearing mob tripping along the bushes. It was easy to keep a perfect distance from them so that they were far away from him, yet still stayed within eyesight. Although they tried many times to shoot him, the dense forest gave him a nice advantage to this dangerous Hide-and-Seek game. He headed nearer and nearer towards the grand bordering wall, where the trees thinned out. When he had reached a bare, grassy field, he was about to swirl around and ignite the bomb, but something caught his eye. He stared horrifically at the outline in the distance. "What the —." impulsively, he ran towards it, dismissing the fact that the pirates were trailing him.

* * *

><p>Eru sprinted through the dense trees tripping recklessly over branches along the way to the giant wall which separated the areas. The mass of trees lessened as he made his was through the forest. Soon, he was surrounded by an almost bare, grassy field with the exception of a couple of bushes. The wall stood inches away from him, when he stopped to catch his breath. It seemed the wall was never ending, for he couldn't find its boundary wherever he looked: right, left, or upwards. Hesitantly, he walked towards the tall wooden, front entrance. <em>'This is it.'<em> He banged his fists hard, hoping that the sound echoed through to the other side.

Several moments and bloodied fist bangs later, a mob of marines flooded out a secret, side gate entrance following their comm The marines all looked the same, except for the leader who had a white cloak draped on his shoulders with the word justice etched on the back. He was a burly man with long, curly hair, and a wicked glare that aimed straight towards Eru. "And what do you want, little boy?" he asked, unamused.

"Pirates have invaded." Eru answered.

"And?"

Eru glared at the idiotic response. "And... Isn't it your responsibility to protect us?"

"We protect civilians. It isn't within my jurisdiction to protect criminals." he snottily replied, scratching the back of his head.

Eru stood still for a moment, baffled. "People are dying!"

"Let me tell you this, boy." the man walked over towards the boy, towering over him by at least one foot. "We. Don't. Care. For. Trash."

"Let me tell you this, marine." he mimicked the man's voice, and stood on his toes to intimidate the older man. "They. Will. Attack. You. Next."

The marine roared loudly as if he was mocking the boy, and his face cracked open in a devilish smirk. "They. Won't. Attack. Us."

"And what makes you say that?" Eru spouted, breaking their little word game.

"You think this is all just a coincidence, boy?" he questioned haughtily. "That the pirates are attacking the Outlawed Area, without even noticing the other two areas?"

Eru stared at the man, perplexed. "W-what?"

He roared with laughter. "You Outlaws are dumber than I thought!"

"Tell me, already!" he glared, filled with impatience.

"Then here's a riddle." he paused shortly for dramatic effect. "What happens to a place that constantly lets people in, but never lets people out? Eh?"

"Overpop-" Eru's eyes widened with horror. "They...wouldn't."

"Guagahgahga!" he sickly roared. "Seems like you get it, boy! There's too much scum in this area, and they keep coming in. Worst of all, they're giving birth to more scum! So what do you think is the government's solution to that problem?" he asked as he bent down and whispered slowly into the boy's ear to make sure he soaked up each and every word he said. "To. Kill. Everyone. With. Pirates."

The boy stood in silence, unable to take it in. "N-no way...You're lying!" he screamed. "YOU'RE LYING." Eru's arms were shaking violently, trying to control his anger to no avail.

"What reason would I have to lie to you, boy?" he still smiled, with that triumphant expression on his face.

"F-f. You're all crazy!" he exclaimed, shaking in terror.

"Pirates get money. We get rid of trash. It's a win-win situation, eh? he chuckled. "Oh. Except for..." he stared down at the boy. "You."

A mix of emotions surged through Eru: anger, resentment, hate, fear, and disappointment. He was disgusted at marines. "What kind of twisted sense of justice is this?" he yelled. "You're all heartless! You deceiving bastards!"

The man was infuriated with each word the boy spit out of his mouth. "Men. Kill the brat." he ordered and walked away swiftly. The marines readied their guns, and began to take aim at the boy.

Without another thought, Eru's adrenaline kicked in, and he rushed towards the marines hastily. "Well, FUCK YOU ALL!" he screamed. He had lost it, and he punched his bloodied fists at the nearest marine. Swiftly closing in on the mob of around thirty marines, he disarmed and brutally knocked out the nearest ones. In response, they quickly switched to swords, thus beginning the close distanced fight. Eru sent swift, powerful strikes towards the assaulting mob. The boy hoped over and ducked below his attackers gracefully, and punched his attackers fiercely. A marine attacked the boy from his left, hoping to catch him off guard. The boy grasped the sword with his right hand, and twisted his body landing a roundhouse kick. Grabbing the fallen sword, he roughly hurled it at another. Taking notice of the boy's poor fighting stance, a marine quickly stabbed the boy in his shoulders, rendering his left arm useless. This did not stop him though, as he angrily jabbed that marine in the throat. He was too quick for their slow movements. By the time he had finished the last marine, his whole body was a bloodied mess from both parties' blood.

_'And then there was one.' _he stared at the cloaked leader that was headed through the side entrance. Eru lunged for the man, only to be stopped by the sound of a bullet, that pierced the back his wounded shoulder blade. "Ackkk!" he cried, taking one glance to the wounded marine that had dared to stop him. Clasping his shoulder blade with his left hand, he wound back his right, and tried to attack the commander again. This time, the man had been aware of his presence, and stopped him easily with one arm.

"You are much too weak." he stared as he pulled the boy up with one arm, leaving him dangling from the ground. "Don't believe a puny runt like you could hope to defeat me; a rear admiral." he gloated. In response, the boy spit on him, square in the face. Enraged, he pulled out a gun and shot the boy five times at point blank; missing all vital areas purposely. "Die a miserable death." he left and headed back towards the village.

"Ack." Eru dropped to his knees into the blood soaked grass, clutching the area he had been shot. The bullet hadn't hit his vital areas, but he had already lost too much blood from the previous marines. He was breathing slow and hard, and his vision was blurring from extreme blood loss. In such a short span of time, a mix of emotions overcame the boy. At first it was anger:. Then it was sadness — leaving this world full of regrets. And finally, it was acceptance — of his cruel reality. "So. This is where I die." he laughed at himself, as he lay in silence for the last moments of his life, facing the blue sky sadly. '_Sorry Ced, I can't go out to sea with you. Sorry baby, you'll probably be sad. Old man...heh, I'll probably see you soon.' _He closed his slowly, drifting off peacefully to await his death.

There was lots of shaking. It was like an earthquake. Not to mention the squeaky voice that kept getting louder and louder with each passing second. A flood of pain rushed in, forcing him to snap his eyes open with the last of his energy.

* * *

><p>Baby had seen it all from the bushes. Not only that, but she had heard it all. And, she was mortified. Everything about it was wrong. She had never seen Eru so angry. Her whole body was shivering in fear from head to toe, wishing it was just a bad dream. She pinched herself. She closed her eyes and opened them repeatedly; it didn't work. This was real.<p>

After that realization, she tried to scrape the last of her courage to head over to her blood soaked brother. "T-this c-can't be happening." she sobbed out loud, as she crawled slowly towards her brother. He was drenched in blood from head to toe and his breathing was barely audible. "Eru?" she whispered, hoping he would get up and smile. Hoping he would pick her up, and tell her he was alright. "ERU!" she screamed, her body shaking uncontrollably. "Nnh.. NOOO" she agonized "PLEASE don't leave. Please. P-lease live. P-ppleeeasee. Eruu!" she shook him hard, trying to wake up him.

The boy's eyes snapped open, confused. "Baby." he groaned out smiling.

"Eru!" she gazed at him in tears. "Are you going to die? Please tell me you wont! You'll be alright, right?"

"Baby." he breathed. "Hide an-."

"I know! I heard everything the marine said!" she interrupted, face contorted to a look of disgust. "We'll get out of here. I'll find Ced and grandpa and you'll be Ok. We just..." he voice trailed off and she stared at the bloodied figure. At his silence, she sobbed harder, unable to control her tears as she buried her head in his arms. "N-n-noo, you can't leave! What about your dream? What about Ced? What about the Old man? What about ME!" she stared at the ground trying to hold back her tears.

"Promise me two things." he finally said.

"What? Anything Eru!" she lifted her head up.

"Promise... No matter what. Be happy."

"Ok. I promise. I promise!" she sobbed harder and grabbed his pinky, and wrapped hers around his. "See? Pinky promise."

Eru smiled warmly at her. "One more thing. If you can, take me to the ocean. Just once, I want to go there." he slowly closed his eyes, with a small smile etched on to his face.

"N-noo! Don't go! Don't leave!" she buried her head into his arms and cried.

* * *

><p>Ced sprinted towards the two familiar forms, escaping out of pirates' sight. "HEY GU-." he cut his yell off and stared in horror at the figure lying on the bloodstained ground. No..." he couldn't believe his eyes. Why was Eru here? And Baby? "E-eru?" he looked at the lifeless body before him, lost for words. Baby was a mess, with her tears falling endlessly on Eru.<p>

Baby lifted her tear covered face. "C-c-ed." she barely managed out. "F-fix him. Fix Eru!"

"Baby..." he stared at the bloodied figure, holding in his tears. _'Why? Why now?' _he screamed in his mind as tears started forming in his eyes. "C-Calm down. I-it's okay." he tried to comfort her, but he was barely managing to calm himself. A flurry of emotions had overcome him, but whether it was despair, fear, or anger, he didn't know why he was shaking uncontrollably. It was like his mind had shattered into a thousand little pieces. "AHGHHH!" he screamed loudly, clutching his head as tears dropped one by one on the bloodstained field. "WHY? Why?"

Little did they know, there was a problem; an endless mob of pirates were quickly approaching them, storming their way out of the dense forest. The pirates were alerted by Ced's screams, and had quickly rushed to the scene. "OI! Give up and die already!" a pirate shouted at them from meters away.

"Baby?" Ced asked, fully recovered and aware of the situation they were in. But even though Ced had finally recovered a bit, Baby hadn't. And that was going to be a problem. "Baby! Snap out of it!" he screamed. "We have to go! I'm scared, and I'm not losing you, too!" he picked her up, but she still clung on to Eru.

"Baby!" he begged, to no effect. She wouldn't budge.

"I-I don't want to leave him!" she cried. "B-r-r-ing him with us!" she asked between sobs. "T-the old man. He can fix him. He fixes me all the time."

"Baby..." Ced started. "Don't be stubborn. Come on!"

"E-eru would listen to me!" she cried. "HE wo-wouldn't leave you if you died!"

"Baby!" he stuggled. "We don't have ti-" he chocked, coughing up blood. A bullet had pierced him from behind. Before he had time to react, several more bullets flew through their direction, penetrating his unguarded back. The whole time, Baby stared, horrified and helpless. Just when she was about to scream, Ced fell down, fully covering the little girl's body, hand clasped tightly over her mouth.

What seemed like an eternity later, a pirate walked towards them, relieved that he had finally killed the boy. "Gyagaggag. Brat is finally dead." he confirmed, looking at the bloodied boy. "That's the last of 'em." he roared, followed by numerous cries and shouts. The pirates rejoiced as they headed back towards their ship, celebrating their fortune.

All Baby could see was red. Lots and lots of red blinding her vision. Not to mention the hand that prevented her from screaming her heart out. She tried to yell, but all she could manage was a muffled noise. Long after the pirates had gone, the hand had loosened its grip. She forced herself out from under the body, only to confirm her brother's fate.

Baby was speechless. She didn't have any more energy to scream, nor cry. Her eyes had gone puffy from all the crying, and her face was a filthy mess. The flower tiara had long fallen off, leaving clumps of leaves in her messy, black hair. Worst of all, her dress had been dyed in splotches of blood. She was a mess. "Nnh.." she tried to scream, but nothing would come out. All she could do was stare horrifically at the body, until her exhaustion had finally taken over, forcing her to black out.


	5. Prologue: Resolve

Thank you to everyone who reviewed. Your positive comments always inspire me to write more. Sorry for the very long delay of this chapter. To everyone who waited, I will be releasing more VERY SOON.

Enjoy.

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><p>Prologue: Resolve<p>

A cry erupted in the depths of the forest. "CAPTAIN! CAPTAINNN! " a crew member shouted repeatedly, running frantically towards the captain.

"Argh. What is it now?!" replied the captain clearly frustrated. "Damn it. This better be something import…." Behind his subordinate trailed hundreds of armed marines. The captain glared at the marines, particularly at their commander, "What do you want, now?"

"Well, hello again, Captain." The commander smiled deviously. "I presume every living human in this village has been dealt with, yes?"

"Aye. I've done my deed, now it's time for my compensation, commander." He spat out.

"Guagahga! Perfect, as expected of a bunch of scums."

"Shoot him." The leader ordered. Before the captain could react, several bullets whistled through the air, penetrating his heart.

"Ack!" the captain stared in horror at the incessant amount of blood pouring out of his wound. "You damn, marine. You tricked us! This wasn't part of our deal!" While struggling to stand, he clumsily pulled out a dagger to charge at the commander. "CURSE YOU Droge (Dro-juh)!" Another wave of bullets pierced his body, this time, subduing him for good.

"GUAGAHGA! That is, Captain Droge to you. Or should I say, thanks to you." He snickered, leaving the captain to suffer death. "Kill the remaining pirates."

* * *

><p>Days after the massacre passed a feeling of dread and despair lingered in the Outlawed Area. The warmth of the trees, once a shelter for the people, had been decimated and reduced to burnt stumps. The ground that had once been glades shaded by thickets of branches was now barren. Even the river, once a source of pure freshwater, was now engulfed in ashes and dirt, resulting in a muddy texture that glazed over the river's surface. Numerous dead bodies spread vastly across the entire landscape from the rampant fires that had spread from explosions. And then there was her. In one little patch of greenery, covered in a mixture of both her brothers' blood, a little girl lay protected by an older boy. Any passerby would have presumed she was dead but this girl was far from it.<p>

Baby awoke to the discomfort of her brother's dead body, suffocating her tiny frame. She struggled to break free of her brother's lingering grasp on her, but finally managed to prop herself up. "Ced... Eru..." she whispered out, peering at the bodies that were meters apart from each other. Neither a sound nor a breath could be heard from them.

"Ew!" Baby screeched. Swarms of fleas were picking away at the dead flesh of both the boy's bodies. Instinctively, she dashed off away from the carnage.

A whirl of unpleasant memories flooded back from the recesses of her mind. "Why?! Why?!" She recalled the moment she laid eyes upon that dreaded black flag that oscillated back and forth in the direction of the wind, signaling impending doom. And the pirates that invaded her home, burned it, and fled, leaving behind nothing but bodies.

As she ran, trying to escape the fresh memories still haunting her thoughts, Baby stumbled over a stump, falling face first into the ground. In front of her, she saw a miracle. Among dozens of huge trees that burned away around it, Baby witnessed one tiny bud just beginning to bloom out. She picked herself back up, burying her head into her body.

* * *

><p><em>'Baby,' Ced proclaimed. 'Someday, I'm gonna set out to sea. Do you know why?'<em>

_'Why?' Baby answered._

_'I'm gonna be a pirate!'_

_'Huhhh? What's that?'_

_'They sail on a ship that's this big.' He laughed with his hands outstretched. 'And they're always going on adventures, getting into fights, looking for treasure, and…' he looked around, making sure nobody was around. '… Getting drunk off rum! Yeah, that's the life!' he exclaimed excitedly._

_'You still are going on about pirates, Ced?' Eru chuckled, appearing out of nowhere. _

_'What the-! What'd you hear?!'_

_'Oh, nothing much. Just your wild fantasies about getting wasted and all.'_

_'HEY! That's not what I meant! Besides, it's a much better life than a marine.'_

_'Hah!' Eru retorted. 'What are you talking about? Marine life is the most righteous path you can take!' he proudly proclaimed as he took a superman-like pose. 'We stand for absolute justice by dedicating our lives to locking up all criminals where they belong.' He paused, smiling wickedly at Ced. 'Without us, there would be chaos, tyranny, and strife!'_

_'Justice, my butt!' Ced retorted. 'Marines are uptight losers who don't know how to let go! Right, Baby?' _

_'Hehehe.' Baby giggled at the weird poses her brothers were making, unaware and uncomprehending the argument between the two boys. _

_'Baby! Decide: pirates or marines.' Ced said, clearly putting emphasis on the world, pirate. _

_'I don't knoww! They're both cool!' _

_'Ok Baby, do you want to be stupid and useless pirate, or would you rather be a marine that's strong enough to protect the people you love?' Eru asked._

_"Umm… a-"_

_'HEY!' Ced interrupted. 'If you put it that way she's obviously going to pick a marine! How about this: justice or freedom?'_

_'Umm. ' Baby paused, looking at her both her brothers' faces as they waiting for her response in anticipation. 'How about the first one to catch me wins!' Baby taunted, running off into the distance._

Baby snapped back into reality, saddened by such sweet memories. "Ced… Eru… you were wrong." She teared up. 'Pirates steal and kill. Marines are a bunch of liars.' She cried, suddenly recalling the deaths of her two brothers. She recalled the marine who didn't stand for justice, but rather for deception. She recalled the pirates that killed and ravaged her precious homeland. The people who had killed her brothers Ced and Eru.

"If-if, I had just moved, you would've been alive, Ced.' The gut-wrenching sound of the bullet was fresh in her mind. Baby shuddered in horror at the thought. 'If-if it weren't for those stupid pirates. Those stupid marines! They took everything!" Mixed feelings of guilt and hate tortured her mind to no end.

It wasn't until another hour passed that all of Baby's tears had dried up. Her face was, yet again, a wreck. But, unlike last time, she would not run away. As walked back towards the dead bodies of her brothers that were still swarmed with flies, she decided she would make their last request come true. Flies or not, she would bury them in the ocean. And then, she would kill every marine and every pirate that crossed her path until she found those responsible for the deaths of her brothers. She would not hide, or run, or wallow in fear ever again. That was her resolve.

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><p>So that was the end of the prologue! Next chapter will definitely have Kidd in it for all of you that have been waiting. I know I can't wait to write it.<p>

Constructive criticism is, as always, welcome. :)


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